Conditioning of articles

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for the conditioning of articles. According to one aspect of the invention, a conveyor conveys articles in a conveying direction along a path. A rotatable belt assembly extends adjacent to the path. The rotatable belt assembly includes a belt having a conditioning run extending generally in the conveying direction to contact articles being conveyed along the path. The belt is mounted so that it is capable of displacement to vary the spacing of the conditioning run from the conveying path. The rotatable belt assembly moves vertically and/or with a rocking movement to condition the articles contacted by the conditioning run. The speed of rotation of the rotatable belt assembly may be varied to adjust the spacing between the articles being conveyed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application is based on, and claims priority to, UK PatentApplication No. 0116746.9 filed on Jul. 9, 2001, titled “Conditioning ofPackages,” the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for theconditioning of articles. In particular, the present invention relatesto a method and apparatus for the conditioning of articles that are, forexample, air tight bags of loose items, especially fragile items such aspotato chips and other snack foods.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] In one aspect of the invention, a conveyor conveys articles in aconveying direction along a path. A rotatable belt assembly extendsadjacent to the path. The rotatable belt assembly includes a belt havinga conditioning run extending generally in the conveying direction tocontact articles being conveyed along the path. The belt is mounted sothat it is capable of displacement to vary the distance of theconditioning run from the conveying path.

[0005] Conditioning of articles refers to changing the condition orstate of an article. For example, if the article is a bag of potatochips, the bag may be “plumped” to restore the bag to a predeterminedconformation.

[0006] Preferably, the conveyor is a vibratory conveyer, especially abowl feeder. The belt is preferably mounted so that the conditioning runis capable of generally vertical linear displacement towards and awayfrom the path, and/or an arcuate, rocking displacement.

[0007] The belt preferably presents a gentle, yielding surface toarticles by being readily displaceable and/or intrinsically soft andyielding. Thus, the belt may extend over two spaced pulleys. Also, thebelt material may be yielding, for example, by having a coating of aresilient foam material.

[0008] The speed of rotation of the belt and/or the conveying speed arepreferably variable.

[0009] Another aspect of the invention provides a method of conditioningarticles, particularly air tight articles, comprising conveying thearticles along a path and contacting the articles with a conditioningrun of a rotatable belt assembly, as described above. As well asconditioning the articles, the rotatable belt assembly can be used toadjust the spacing of downstream articles by adjusting the rate ofrotation of the rotatable belt assembly.

[0010] A further aspect of the present invention provides an apparatusfor conditioning articles that includes a bowl feeder with a bowl and aspiral track conveyer extending from a bottom to a top of the bowlfeeder. The bowl feeder is vibrated to cause articles in the bowl totravel up the spiral track and exit along an outlet path. The articlestraveling along the spiral track conveyer contact a radially outer wallof the bowl feeder to orient the articles. A rotatable belt assemblyabove the outlet path has a belt with a conditioning run that moves inthe same direction as the articles being conveyed and extends in theconveying direction. The rotatable belt assembly moves vertically and/orwith a rocking movement to contact and thereby condition the articles asthe articles exit along the outlet path.

[0011] An additional aspect of the present invention provides anapparatus including (a) a conveyor moving air tight bags in a conveyingdirection along a path; and (b) a conditioning run extending in theconveying direction and contacting the bags being conveyed to plump thebags.

[0012] These, together with other aspects and advantages that will besubsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013]FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conveyor having a bowl feeder and arotatable belt assembly according to an embodiment of invention;

[0014]FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, on a larger scale, of therotatable belt assembly and a part of the bowl feeder shown in FIG. 1;and

[0015]FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the rotatable belt assemblyof FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016]FIG. 1 shows a bowl feeder 10 with, for example, a spiral trackconveyor 12 that leads upwards from a lower region to a generallystraight outlet path 14 at the top of the bowl feeder 10. The bowlfeeder 10 is displaceable and connected to a motor unit so that the bowlfeeder 10 can be vibrated vigorously to cause articles 18 in the bowlfeeder 10 to travel up the spiral track conveyor 12 and exit along theoutlet path 14. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the outlet path 14 has, forexample, a lateral slope in the radially outward direction of the bowlfeeder 10 so that an article 18 traveling along the spiral trackconveyor 12 tends to contact a radially outer wall 16 of the bowl feeder10. This standardizes the position of the articles 18, reduces the riskof the articles 18 falling from the spiral track conveyor 12, and alsotends to orient the articles 18.

[0017] The articles 18 shown in FIGS. 1-3 are, for example, packets ofsnack foods, such as potato chips. The packets containing the snackfoods are, for example, air tight bags of a thin film material.

[0018] The outlet path 14 passes under a rotatable belt assembly 20. Therotatable belt assembly 20 has, for example, a foam covered belt 22,which passes over, for example, two large diameter pulleys 24 that aredriven by a speed-controlled motor. The rotatable belt assembly 20 iscarried by, for example, a support frame that permits adjustment ofheight above the outlet path 14, and that also allows the rotatable beltassembly 20 to move vertically as shown by arrow 26 and/or with arocking movement as shown by arrow 28.

[0019] A lower conditioning run 30 of the belt 22 is spaced from theoutlet path 14 by a distance approximately the same as the intendedthickness of an article 18. Because the outlet path 14 is an extensionof the spiral track conveyor 12 of the bowl feeder 10, the outlet path14 vibrates in use so that the gap between the outlet path 14 and theconditioning run 30 varies. Thus, articles 18 passing through the gapmay contact the belt 22. The contact is quite gentle, partly because ofthe nature of the foam covered belt 22, and partly because the mountingof the rotatable belt assembly 20 allows the belt 22 to move away if itis pushed hard by an article 18.

[0020] The belt 22 is rotated so that the conditioning run 30 travels inthe same direction as the articles 18 being conveyed. The gentlecontact, assisted by the vertical and/or rocking movement of therotatable belt assembly 20, gently presses an article 18. For an airtight gas-filled bag, this contact tends to “plump” the bag, restoringit to its optimal conformation.

[0021] The speed of the belt 22 may be controlled so that it is eitherthe same as, or different from, the speed at which the articles 18 leavethe belt 22 conveyer.

[0022] Also, the speed of the belt 22 may be varied to change thespacing of the articles 18. For example, a higher belt speed can be usedto increase the spacing of the articles 18 on the conveyor downstream ofthe rotatable belt assembly 20. This can be useful to give downstreammachines more time for handling the articles 18.

[0023] The conveyor is not limited to any particular size, shape, ortype of conveyor. Also, the articles are not limited to any particularsize, shape, weight, or type of articles. Moreover, while the articleshave been described as being air tight, the present invention is notlimited to articles that are air tight. In addition, the belt assemblyis not limited to any particular number or configuration of pulleys,type of belts, or structure. Instead, various modifications can be madeto the conveyor, articles, and belt assembly to achieve the intendedoperation of the present invention.

[0024] A belt assembly is described herein as being “rotatable.”However, the present invention is not limited to a belt assembly whichis “rotatable”. Instead, the belt assembly should simply have sufficientfunctionality to perform the intended operation. Further, the presentinvention is not limited to the use of a “belt assembly”. Instead, othertypes of mechanisms may be usable to achieve the intended operation.

[0025] The many features and advantages of the invention are apparentfrom the detailed specification and, thus, it is intended by theappended claims to cover all such features and advantages of theinvention that fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur tothose skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention tothe exact construction and operation illustrated and described, andaccordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for conditioning articles,comprising: a conveyor moving articles in a conveying direction along apath; and a belt assembly adjacent to the path, the belt assembly havinga belt with a conditioning run extending in the conveying direction andcontacting the articles being conveyed to condition the articles.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the conditioning run travels in a samedirection as the articles being conveyed
 3. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the conveyor is a bowl feeder.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the belt assembly moves vertically and/or with a rockingmovement to reshape the article to an optimal configuration.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the belt extends over pulleys with thebelt being displaceable and moving away from any articles that pushagainst the belt.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the belt iscoated with a resilient foam material.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the belt assembly is rotatable, and a speed of rotation of thebelt, a speed of the conveyor, and a distance of the conditioning runabove the path are variable.
 8. A method of conditioning articles,comprising: moving articles in a conveying direction along a path; andcontacting the moving articles with a conditioning run to condition thearticles as the articles are being conveyed.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the belt assembly is rotatable.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein the belt assembly moves vertically and/or with a rockingmovement to reshape the articles to an optimal configuration.
 11. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising adjusting a rate of rotation ofthe belt assembly to adjust a spacing between the articles beingconveyed.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the conditioning runtravels in a same direction as the articles being conveyed.
 13. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the articles are conveyed using a bowlfeeder.
 14. An apparatus for conditioning articles, comprising: meansfor moving articles in a conveying direction along a path; and means forcontacting the moving articles with a conditioning run to condition thearticles.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the conditioning run ispart of a rotatable belt assembly.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15,wherein the rotatable belt assembly moves vertically and/or with arocking movement to reshape the articles to an optimal configuration.17. An apparatus for conditioning articles, comprising: a bowl feederwith a bowl and a spiral track conveyer extending from a bottom to a topof the bowl feeder, the bowl feeder being vibrated to cause articles inthe bowl to travel up the spiral track and exit along an outlet path,and the articles traveling along the spiral track conveyer contacting aradially outer wall of the bowl feeder to orient the articles; and abelt assembly above the outlet path and having a belt with aconditioning run moving in a same direction as the articles beingconveyed and extending in a conveying direction, the belt assemblymoving vertically and/or with a rocking movement to contact and therebycondition the articles as the articles exit along the outlet path. 18.The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the belt assembly is rotatable, and aspeed of rotation of the belt assembly is varied to adjust a spacingbetween the articles being conveyed.
 19. An apparatus comprising: aconveyor moving articles in a conveying direction along a path; and aconditioning run extending in the conveying direction and contacting thearticles being conveyed to condition the articles.
 20. An apparatus asin claim 19, wherein the conditioning run contacts the articles beingconveyed to change the shape of the articles, and thereby condition thearticles.
 21. An apparatus comprising: a conveyor moving air tight bagsin a conveying direction along a path; and a conditioning run extendingin the conveying direction and contacting the bags being conveyed toplump the bags.
 22. An apparatus comprising: a conveyor moving air tightbags in a conveying direction along a path; and means for contacting thebags as the bags are being conveyed to plump the bags.
 23. An apparatusfor conditioning articles, comprising: a conveyor moving articles in aconveying direction along a path; and a belt assembly adjacent to thepath, the belt assembly having a belt with a conditioning run extendingin the conveying direction and contacting the articles being conveyed tocondition the articles, and the belt being displaceable to vary thespacing between the conditioning run and the path.
 24. The apparatus ofclaim 23, wherein the conditioning run travels in a same direction asthe articles being conveyed
 25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein theconveyor is a bowl feeder.
 26. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein theconveyor is a vibratory conveyor.
 27. The apparatus of claim 23, whereinthe conditioning run is linearly displaceable towards and away from thepath.
 28. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the belt assembly movesvertically and/or with a rocking movement to reshape the article to anoptimal configuration.
 29. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the beltextends over pulleys with the belt being displaceable and moving awayfrom any articles that push against the belt.
 30. The apparatus of claim23, wherein the belt is coated with a resilient foam material.
 31. Theapparatus of claim 23, wherein the belt assembly is rotatable, and aspeed of rotation of the belt, a speed of the conveyor, and a distanceof the conditioning run above the path are variable.